4 '^ 



E 241 
•L8 K55 
Copy 1 



DEDICATION OF 
MONUMENT AND ALTAR, TO LIBERTY 

ON 

BATTLE HILL, GREENWOOD CEMETERY 
AUGUST 27, IQ20 



144TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF 
LONO ISLAND— THE FIRST BATTLE OF 
THE NATION— FOUGHT AUGUST 27. 1776 



PROGRAMME OF CEREMONIES 

BY 

KINGS COUNTY HISTORICAL S(X:iETY 
BROOKLYN, N Y 



••y . --..rTsr 



SEP 20 1920 



- L9 K 5-5 



DEDICATION OF 
MONUMENT AND ALTAR TO LIBERTY 

BY KINGS COUNTY HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY ON BATTLE HILL IN GREEN- 
WOOD CEMETERY, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
AUGUST 27, 1920 

144TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND 

PROGRAMME OF CEREMONIES 

THIS monument is donated by a member of the Society to 
commemorate the Battle of Long Island, which was fought 
wholly within the boundaries of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776. 
This was the first battle of the Nation and the first stroke for our 
great American Charter of Rights and Liberties — the Declaration 
of Independence — and was, obviously, the greatest historic event 
that ever occurred in the City of Brooklyn, and yet this great Na- 
tional, and greatest local, event has remained practically unmarked 
and unmonumented up to the present time. 

The Day We Celebrate 
August 27, iyy6 

"To-day the cannon's thunderous throat 

Shall chant in tones sublime 
The song that burst in brazen note 

From Philadelphia's chime. 
To-day the patriot's sworded hand 
^ Shall ratify the pen, 

And seal the charter of the land 
In blood of honest men." 

From Poem by Mr. P. J. 
Coleman on Battle of Long 
Island. Aivarded First Prize 
by Brooklyn Institute, 1913. 



HAIL YE HEROES! 

GLORY to our First National Heroes who fought and fell on 
Greenwood's Hills and Slopes in our first National battle, 
and there shed the fu'st blood for our National Liberty and Inde- 
pendence. 

"Hail ye heroes — Heaven born band! 
Who fought and bled in Freedom's Cause. 
Let Independence be your boast, 
Ever mindful what it cost, 
Ever grateful for the prize, 
Let its Altar reach the skies!" 



D3 







'^^^^: 




Plath I 
Front View of Monument facing West. 



[4] 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE I 

IN this Monument a square Grecian Altar, carved in granite, and 
ha\'ing bronze plates with historic inscriptions on the four sides, 
is erected on Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetery on a high elevation 
overlooking the cities of Brooklyn and New York and the waters 
of New York Harbor. The Altar is of strictly classic design and 
rests on a base and subbase of granite forming two steps or terraces 
leading up to the Altar. The figure of Minerva, the Goddess of 
Wisdom, Glory, and Patriotism, cast in bronze, stands beside the 
Altar and faces directly toward the towering Bartholdi Statue of 
Liberty arising in New York Harbor in the mid-distance. Minerva 
salutes the Goddess of Liberty with one hand upraised, while the 
other hand places a wreath of laurel upon the Altar in tribute to 
the Wisdom of our American institutions as expressed in the 
Declaration of Independence, and to the valor of our first National 
Heroes who fought and fell on this sacred battle-ground to establish 
these institutions. 

Inscription on the Front Side of the Altar 
facing West toward the Statue of Liberty 
on Liberty Island in New York Bay 



i ^i! ! MJBiWMm^ '^ immmi£iaMmm mj!ES\'iMMMMMumM^M^^ 



ALTAR TO LIBERTY 

1776-1919 

ON THIS BATTLE HILL, FACING THE STATUE 
I OF LIBERTY, THIS ALTAR IS ERECTED TO 

I COMMEMORATE THE BATTLE OF LONG 

ISLAND, THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT OF WHICH 
WAS FOUGHT ON THIS SITE, AUGUST 27, 1776, 
BETWEEN GENERAL LORD STIRLING WITH 
2000 AMERICANS AND GENERAL GRANT WITH 
6000 BRITISH. THIS WAS THE FIRST BATTLE 
OF THE NATION AND THE FIRST STROKE 
FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN CHARTER OF 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES— THE DECLARATION 
OF INDEPENDENCE. 

ERECTED 1919 

i^ i^ili^3lTaif^ ^|ga^rllt7Tll ralT^ll7Tlllya■?1iri^^^7T^^^ 




Plate 2 
Side View of Monument facing South. 



1:6] 



INSCRIPTION ON PLATE 2 
ON SIDE OF MONUMENT FACING SOUTH 



»3!UiEU!MMIiU<MI'yjlMl!Ba!aCTtgiai|!U'|i^'l!Ui|MM^^ 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

JULY 4, 1770 

THE WISEST DOCUMENT EVER WRITTEN 
OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES, BASIC 
ETHICS. CIVIC RELIGION AND DEMOCRATIC 
GOVERNMENT. ALL THESE ARE E.XPRESSED 
IN THIS ONE ESSENTIAL PARAGRAPH: 

"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF EVI- 
DENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, 
TH.VT THEY ARE ENDOWED, BY THEIR CRE- 
ATOR, WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, 
THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND 
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. THAT TO SE- 
CURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERNMENTS ARE 
INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, DERIVING THEIR 
lUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE 
GOVERNED." 

EQUALITY— LIBERTY— HUMAN RIGHTS. 



|rab^^iia^ft^i'?^ a^l iSiliBilig;ili''iit?^''^^ 



L?] 




Plate 3 

Back View of Monument facing East but looking West over the City of 
Brooklyn in the foreground, with New York Bay and the Statue of Liberty 
in the mid-distance, and the hills of New Jersey in the far distance. 

[8] 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 3 

IN this Plate it will be noted that the Statue of Liberty is shown 
arising in New York Harbor in the center of the panoramic 
view and in direct line with the Monument and Altar to Liberty 
on Battle Hill in the foreground. It will also be here noted that 
the face of the Statue of Liberty is not turned toward New Jersey 
or Manhattan but toward Brooklyn, and that the beams from the 
Torch of Liberty and Enlightenment are directed over the shores of 
Brooklyn and the hills and slopes of Greenwood to show where our 
National Liberty was first fought for and virtually won. 

Our great ally in the Revolution — the People of France — who 
gave us this noble Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, and 
placed it centrally in our harbor with its face turned toward 
Brooklyn and Greenwood, seem to have well known where our 
National Liberty was first fought for in actual battle and thus 
pointed out to us where we should, long ago, have placed an 
answering monument of our own. The monument now erected 
facing the Statue of Liberty is not only a monument to the great- 
est event in our own local history and to one of the greatest events 
in our National history, but is an answering and reciprocal monu- 
ment to the Statue of Liberty and to the noble People of France 
who so ably helped us to win our Liberty in the War of the 
Revolution. And we can now feel that a Patriotic and Historic 
duty long incumbent on us to duly mark, sanctify and monument 
one of our greatest historic shrines is now met and fulfilled in this 
answering and sanctifying monument which now faces the Statue 
of Liberty from one of the highest hilltops on our first National 
battle-ground where our first National Heroes fought and fell for 
American Liberty and Independence. 

Inscription on Plate ^ on Back 
or East Side of Monument: 



"THE PLACE WHEREON THOU 
STANDEST IS HOLY GROUND" 

GLORY TO THE MEMORY OF OUR FIRST NATIONAL 
HEROES WHO FOUGHT AND FELL ON THIS BATTLE- 
GROUND TO WIN OUR LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE! 
MINERVA, THE GODDESS OF WISDOM, GLORY AND 
PATRIOTISM, HERE SALUTES THE GODDESS OF LIB- 
ERTY AND ENWREATHES THIS ALTAR IN TRIBUTE 
TO THE HEROES OF AMERICAN LIBERTY AND TO 
THE WISDOM OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. 



IBSiraiy^i'fiJii'i^iiaaii^av^i'V^^'^'ii'^'g^g^'yBira^ 



[9] 




Plate 4 
Side View of Monument facing North. 



1^02 



Inscription on Plate 4 011 North Side of Altar: 



a!uiiuip^iaMi'iJ.'PU'i!uiM»J!i:y!i!y!i!U'iiyai!U'||^K'iMM^ 

STIRLING'S VOW 

"Here and along the slopes of Greenwood's hills 
Our patriots for the first time faced their foe 
In open field; and well we stood the test. 
'Men!' cried Lord Stirling, as we formed our line, 
'This Grant who comes against us once declared 
In England's House of Commons — I sat there 
And heard — that given him five thousand men 
He'd cross our continent from end to end! 
He has his number now, 1 doubt not; we 
A fourth as many, yet I promise you 
He'll march no farther through our continent 
Than Brower's mill ponds yonder.' " 

From Pri^e Poem by Sarah J. Day, 191 j. 



^tpsi>r'/!)i'ij)f^^f<!tmi^a^^ 



HISTORIC NOTES:— The inscription on this North side of 
the Altar entitled "Stirling's Vow" is taken from the Prize 
Poem on the Battle of Long Island by Miss Sarah J. Day, of 
Brooklyn, a graduate of Packer Institute, to whom the second 
prize for the best poem was awarded by the Brooklyn Institute 
in 191 3. This inscription recites one of the most heroic, critical 
and significant events in American History and deserves close at- 
tention. Here on Greenwood's hills and slopes, at the opening of 
our first National battle. General Stirling took up the taunt and 
boast of the British general Grant that he would cross our continent 
from end to end, unchecked, and crush out our rebellion with 
five thousand men! And Stirling soon proved, as he had vowed, 
that Grant — at least for that day and some time after — would get 
no farther through our continent than "Brower's mill ponds 
yonder." These historic mill ponds, now filled in and obliterated, 
were located about one mile north of Greenwood near the "Old 
Stone House of Gowanus," in the vicinity of Third Street and 
Fifth and Third Avenues. This point was near the center of the 
American lines and was the most strategic point in the whole 
battle-field. General Stirling held General Grant in a hot en- 



gagement for a while at Greenwood and then made a quick retreat 
toward this strategic center and took up his position near the Old 
Stone House and in front of the mill ponds. The bridges over the 
mill ponds, which led to the center of the American lines, having 
been burned by this time, to prevent the passage of the British, 
Stirling now ordered the main body of his force, comprising the 
Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania regiments, to retreat by 
wading and swimming across the Gowanus Creek and marshes 
into the American lines on the opposite side of the Creek where 
Washington was stationed with the main army. But Stirling, like 
Leonidas of old, kept with him on the fighting front the choice and 
flower of our little army, the Maryland regiment, numbering about 
300 to 400 men, who, like the Spartans at Thermopylae, would not 
retreat but covered the retreat of their other regiments and then 
sacrificed themselves for American Liberty to the number of two 
to three hundred in violent and repeated assaults on the British 
under General Grant and Lord Cornwallis, who had now concen- 
trated at this strategic point. 

Stirling was finally forced to surrender to this overwhelming 
force thrown against his right and left, but not before his "vow" 
was fully carried out in there checking the concentrated attack of 
the enemy and preventing their passage farther than "Brower's 
mill ponds yonder." 

The British plan of battle was evidently to surround the little 
American army of nine thousand men with their overwhelming 
force of thirty thousand veterans, and then close in and crush or 
capture Washington and his whole army at their convenience. 
This plan was followed by the Hessians attacking the center 
through Prospect Park and down the old Porte Road, now First 
Street, while the divisions under General Grant and Lord Corn- 
wallis attacked Stirling on his right and left on the Gowanus Road 
in front of the American center near the Old Stone House, with 
the evident purpose to crush Stirling and his whole force between 
them and then cross the Creek at this strategic center of the ponds 
and bridges where the line of defense was weakest and there cap- 
ture Washington and his main army and thus end the Revolution 
and the New Born Nation at one blow! 

The carrying out of "Stirling's Vow," however, in the manner 
described, with the heroic work of the brave Maryland regiment, 
checked this dangerous British plan, thus saving Washington and 
his main army on the other side of the Creek and enabling him 
to make his masterly retreat two days later, which saved our 
young Nation at its very cradling, and at the most critical military 



situation ever existing in our national iiistory. It will therefore 
be seen that "Stirling's Vow," carried out as described, was equiva- 
lent to the famous vow of the heroic French at Verdun — "They 
shall not pass" — which saved the French Nation in the recent 
world war, as "Stirling's Vow" saved our young Nation at its very 
horning in 1776. 

There is therefore nothing more heroic and significant in our 
entire military and national history than this "Stirling's Vow," 
which was uttered at the first engagement of our first National 
battle on the hills of Greenwood, and carried out in the last en- 
gagement of the battle at Gowanus Creek and mill ponds near the 
Old Stone House of Gowanus. 

There are, therefore, no spots more sacred and significant in 
the history of our Nation than these two sites on which the first 
and last engagements of our first National battle were fought. In- 
deed, the whole battle was so important and significant in our 
history that all critical points in the battle-field should be properly 
reserved, marked, and monumented so as to fully carry the patri- 
otic and historic lessons of Americanism taught by this battle to 
the present and future generations. Fortunately the city is al- 
ready in possession of two of these important sites in the battle- 
field. The first of these is Prospect Park, where the second engage- 
ment was fought between the Americans under General Sullivan 
and the Hessians under General De Heister, and where a proper 
marker or monument can be erected at "Battle Pass" or elsewhere 
without much expense, as no ground will have to be bought for 
this purpose. The second site is in Fort Green Park near the 
Wallabout Bay, which was the site of the chief fortification in our 
line of defense at the extreme end of our left flank and also the 
site of military headquarters on the day of battle. On this hilltop 
of Fort Green Park, Brooklyn now possesses what is the grandest 
historic monument in the whole borough, known as the "Prison 
Ship Martyrs Monument," which has been erected by our patriotic 
societies to honor the soldiers of the Revolution who died in Eng- 
lish prison ships, many of whom fought in the Battle of Long 
Island. This monument has, however, a very meagre inscription 
which does not clearly indicate its full purpose and significance to 
the ordinary observer, but it can be made to serve as a grand 
monument both to the Battle of Long Island and to our Prison 
Ship Martyrs by a proper descriptive inscription and without 
further expense. 

The purchase of the land and the erection of the monument to 
mark the first engagement of the battle on Greenwood's hills being 

[•3] 



now pro\ided by a pri\ate citizen, it remains only for the people 
of Brooklyn to acquire some part of the sacred ground on the 
Gowanus meadows near the mill ponds and the Old Stone House, 
the site of the last engagement, which is the most important monu- 
mental site of all, as here our young Nation was undoubtedlv 
saved at its very horning, and here the two or three hundred 
heroic Maryland boys laid down their lives for the life of the 
Nation, which was surely one of the most sacred, heroic and signifi- 
cant events in our whole histor>'. 

For this historic purpose it is suggested that the whole block 
bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Third and Fourth 
Streets should be acquired for memorial parking and monumental 
purposes as soon as possible. On this block the Old Stone House 
is buried and should be dug up and restored and used as a Museum 
of Relics of the Battle. With this block there should also be 
acquired part of the ground near the corner of Seventh Street and 
Third Avenue, where the Maryland soldiers who fell in the battle 
were buried. These sites are surely the most sacred in our history 
and to longer neglect to properly reserve and monument them 
would seem to be a keen disgrace, in a historic and patriotic sense, 
not only to the citizens of Brooklyn but to the whole American 
people. It is therefore hoped that the example set by one citizen 
of Brooklyn in the purchase of historic land and the erection of 
a monument to mark the first engagement in our first national 
battle will be followed by some other citizen or group of citizens 
or by Municipal, State, or National action, until this site of the 
last engagement in the battle is reserved and monumented as it 
should be in view of the impressive fact that, in a historic and 
patriotic sense, it is the most important and significant spot in 
our whole city, and is second to no other in the whole country. 

To this historic block should be moved the "Maryland Monu- 
ment" now standing on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park, which is 
about two miles from the place near the Old Stone House \\'here 
these heroes fought and fell. There should also be erected on this 
block a statue of General Stirling, who led the chief fighting in 
the Battle of Long Island, and fought the first and last engage- 
ments, and who is one of the most interesting and significant char- 
acters in American history, although little known to our people 
in general. He is clearl\', however, Brooklyn's greatest historic 
character, as the Battle of Long Island is Brooklyn's greatest his- 
toric event; and it is surelv time therefore that Brooklyn fully 
appreciated and fittingly monumented its greatest historic character 
and event. See portrait and note on page 20. 



To this end, in addition to the memorial work above suggested, 
there should be erected somewhere on the historic block a grand 
Memorial Arch with this inscription: 



TO THE GLORIES OF BROOKLYN AND GOWANUS I 

THE FIRST BATTLE-GROUND OF THE NATION. i 

TO THE SAVIORS OF THE NATION WHO i 

FOUGHT AND FELL HERE AUGUST 27, 1776. | 

The monumental, historic and patriotic work above suggested 
with regard to the site of the last engagement in our first National 
battle is surely a sacred and urgent task to which all our historic 
and patriotic societies should give themselves wholeheartedly at 
once. 

The cost of acquiring the historic land above described will be 
over a quarter million, which is, of course, a big task to undertake; 
but this ground is the most precious in the country in every sense 
of true Americanism and justifies every proper and necessary outlay 
and exertion. 

In our famous national shrine of Independence Hall in Phila- 
delphia, on July 4, 1776, fifty-five of our leading patriots signed, in 
ink, the great Document which declared us to be a free and inde- 
pendent Nation, with sublime principles of Liberty and Humanity 
for all; but, on the historic land above referred to, two to three 
hundred of our young heroes signed this Declaration in their blood 
and were the first to lay down their lives for the New Nation. 
Surely, therefore, we have no more sacred and significant shrines 
anywhere in our country than these two on the hills of Greenwood 
and the lowlands of Gowanus, which we have heretofore allowed to 
be so strangely overlooked and forgotten. 



L'3l 



PROPOSED MONUMENTAL OBSERVATORY 
TOWER ON BATTLE HILL 

zA New Foiirf/i of July Shrine 

THE donor of the Monument on Battle Hill, within the ceme- 
tery, has also acquired a plot of ground just outside the 
cemetery, on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Twenty-third 
Street, one hundred feet square, which he intends to donate to the 
City, State, or Nation, as a site for a monumental observatory 
tower like that on Bunker Hill in Boston. 

This location gives a much finer and more extended view than 
that from Bunker Hill and is the most scenic spot in the city, 
affording magnificent views of Manhattan and Brooklyn, the 
waters of New York Harbor, with the towering Statue of Liberty, 
the shores of Staten Island and New Jersey and the lands and 
waters for miles around from the Atlantic Ocean to the Orange 
Mountains including a view of the whole battle-ground in what was 
a much more important battle than Bunker Hill. 

It is therefore thought that with the Altar to Liberty within the 
cemetery on the top of Battle Hill and a monumental tower out- 
side the cemetery on the slope of Battle Hill, which will be more 
accessible to the general public, that this precious historic spot 
will be adequately marked and monumented as the place where 
our first fight was made for National Independence and will thus 
be a Fourth of July Shrine equal to Independence Hall itself, and 
a place where the patriotic pilgrim can view a most inspiring 
scene and drink in important lessons in history and patriotism 
at the same time. 



[■6] 



PRESENTATION OF THE MONUMENT 

By tJic Donor, Chas. M. H/go/ns 

THIS Monument and Altar to Liberty is now presented to the 
people of Brooklyn, and placed in the care of the Greenwood 
Cemetery Corporation and the Kings County Historical Society, 
as a record of the high place of Brooklyn in the history of our 
Nation and in honor of our first National heroes who fought and 
fell on this sacred battle-ground to win our National Liberty and 
Independence and here shed the first blood for this great cause. 

This Monument is as much a memorial to the Declaration of 
Independence, which was our first Charter of Rights and Liberties, 
as to the Battle of Long Island, which was the first battle of the 
Nation and the first stroke for the Declaration of Rights in which 
are expressed and epitomized the principles which form the essence 
of true Americanism and the basis of our American Government. 
These principles are in substance, equality of mankind, unalien- 
able rights of the individual, and consent of the governed. 

May this Monument and Altar stand forever as a record of, 
and witness to, the great place of Brooklyn in our National his- 
tory, which has been almost overlooked or forgotten, and as a 
perpetual reminder of the grand principles of Americanism ex- 
pressed in the Declaration, the wisest document ever written, which 
gives us in one simple paragraph a clear code of basic ethics, civic 
religion and democratic government, adapted for the just govern- 
ment of all mankind the world over, and which should ever guide 
us in our political, religious and social life. 

THANKS TO ARTISTS OF MONUMENT 

JUST here I wish to publicly thank the sculptor Mr. F. Wellington 
Ruckstull for his artistic, inspiring and devoted work in the 
modeling of the bronze statue of Minerva, and for his general design 
of the granite and bronze work on the Altar. To this work he has 
devoted more than a year of his life to realize the ideals of us both 
in this matter. 

I also wish to thank Mr. Chas. J. Davis, of The Davis Granite 
Co., for the fine execution of the stonework in the Altar, and for 
his carefuf attention to artistic details. 

I must also give thanks to the sculptor Mr. Robert G. Eber- 
hard for his artistic modeling of the inscriptions, as well as to the 
Roman Bronze Works of Brooklyn for the casting of the Statue 
and inscriptions. 



PROGRAMME OF CEREMONIES 

Mr. Chas. a. DiTMAs, President Kings County Historical Society, 
Presiding. 

Guests will assemble in the Chapel in Greenwood Cemetery near 
the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street, Brook- 
lyn, at 2 P.M. sharp. Musical and Memorial Services in Chapel at 
2.15 P.M. Dr. Paul Martin, Conductor. 

1. Opening remarks of Mr. Chas. A. Ditmas 

2. Largo, Handel Organ 

3. Invocation Chaplain Barton Perry, Lt. Col. U. S. A. 

4. America Organ and Quartette 

5. Memorial address in honor of our first National heroes who 
fought and fell on Greenwood's hills and slopes and there shed 
the first blood for our National Liberty and Independence 

Rev. Chas. Wm. Roeder of Flatlands Dutch Reformed 
Church, First Church organiied in Brooklyn 

6. Angels' Serenade, Braga: To spirits of our departed heroes 

Soprano, Violin and Organ 

7. Chant Seraphique, Guilmant Organ 

'They sing the glory of the brave 
In voice of love divine, 
For, oh! the patriot's hallowed grave 
Is Freedom's holiest shrine." 

8. Benediction Dr. Henry Neumann 

Leader Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture 

9. Recessional, "Lest We Forget" Organ 

10. March from Chapel to Monument on Battle Hill 

Dead March from Saul Military Band 



DEDICATION OF MONUMENT ON BATTLE HILL 

3 P.M. 

1 1. Introductory Address By Mr. Cbas. A. Ditmas 3 p.m. 

12. Presentation of Monument. . . .By Donor, Mr. Cbas M. Higgins 

3.1 5 P.M. 

13. Unveiling of Monument By the Misses Rachel Higgins, 

Margaret D. Harrison, and Maud Ryder Kouivenhoven 

^.20 P.M. 

14. Salute from U. S. Warship in Harbor near Statue of Liberty 

1 5. Trumpet Solo: 
Hail Columbia! 

Hail Ye Heroes! Group of Trumpeters 3.25 p.m. 

16. Te Deum Quartette 3.30 p.m. 

17. Acceptance of Monument on behalf of Greenwood Corporation 

Hon. Russell Benedict 3.35 p.m. 

18. Acceptance on behalf of Kings Count}' Historical Society 

Hon. George Tiffany 3.40 p.m. 

19. Battle Hymn Band 3.45 p.m. 

20. Address Hon. Alfred E. Smith 3.50 p.m. 

Governor State of New York 

21. Address Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt 4.05 p.m. 

22. Address: "Art and History". .Mr. Augustus Thomas 4.20 p.m. 

23. Address: ".Americanism: Our duty to understand and cherish it. 
The Declaration of Independence first fought for on this bat- 
tleground — the Basis and Code of Americanism". .. .4.30 p.m. 

Hon. David A . Boody, former Mayor of Brooklyn 

24. Address: "Brooklyn's High Place in History and Brooklyn's 
Duty to its own Great Historical Record" 4.45 p.m. 

Hon. Wm. M. Calder, U. S. Senator from New York 

25. Maryland, My Maryland Ba7id 5 p.m. 

26. Address: "History and Patriotism" 5.05 p.m. 

Mr. Sullivan, N. Y. State Historian 

27. Finale: "America" Band, Quartette and Trumpeters 

Audience is requested to join in the singing 




GENERAL STIRLING 
The Little-known American Hero 

"I have in mv Last told you, that the fate of this campaign, of course 
the fate of America, depends upon you, and the army under your 
command." 

From General Washington at Cambridge to General 

Stirli)is at New York, March 14, 1776. 



C^o;] 



GENERAL LORD STIRLING 

Brooklyn's Greatest Historic Character. 

Born in New York, 1726. Died in Albany, ijS^. 

Hero of Battle of Long Island, 

Brooklyn's Greatest Historic Event 

Painted for Chas. M. Higgins by Miss Eleanor C. Bannister, 
Brooklyn, 191 9. From portrait from life by Bass Otis in Inde- 
pendence Hall, and from miniature in the Life of Lord Stirling 
written by his grandson, William Alexander Duer, published by 
the New Jersey Historical Society, 1847. See also Life of Lord 
Stirling, just published by Kings County Historical Society, 
August, 1920. 

STIRLING AND BROOKLYN 

"Thermopylae and Marathon 

Still wake the minstrel's lyre; 
The deeds of Sparta's lion son 

The poet's rage inspire; 
But with earth's brightest fields of fame, 

Earth's proudest laurelled dead, 
Be brightly blazoned Brooklyn's name. 

The patriots here who bled. 

"Here Freedom fleshed her virgin blade 

And found its temper true; 
Here on the ranks of Right arrayed 

God's blessing down she drew. 
Here skilled to foil the foeman's thrust 

She proved each chosen son, 
And worthy found of holiest trust 

Stirling and Washington." 

From First Prise Poem. P. J. C. 



c^i: 



KINGS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. 

41 Amersfort Place, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



OFFICERS 
Charles A. Ditmas 

President 
George Tiffany 

First Vice-President 
William B. Lake 

Second Vice-President 
Ernest E. Malmar 

Chairman Board of Directors 
George Tiffany 

Treasurer 
John M. Van Siclen 

Financial Secretary 
Frank M. Raynor 

Recording Secretary 
Mrs. Harry C. Greene 

Corresponding Secretary 
Mrs. Frank Homer Thompson 

Historian 



DIRECTORS 
Andrew Ditmas 
Charles A. Ditmas 
Tunis J. Bergen 
Charles Wm. Gramm 
FIerbert F. Gunnison 
Mrs. Harry C. Greene 
George T. Hammond 
Charles M. Higgins 
Cornelius Kouwenhoven 
William B. Lake 
Charles E. Scriven 
Frank M. Raynor 
Mrs. Bentley FI. Stevenson 
FIoN. George Tiffany 
Ernest E. Malmar 
John H. Van Siclen 
George Kouwenhoven 
Mrs. Frank Homer Thompson 



COMMITTEES ON DEDICATION OF MONUMENT AND 

ALTAR TO LIBERTY 

August 27, 1920 

Marshal 
George Halsey Thompson 

Aids 
FIoLMES V. B. Ditmas 
Wheeler Newman Voorhees 
Frank M. Raynor 
Ed. Lewis 



Color Guard 



John II. Van Siclen 
Frank K. Snyder 
Harold Edward Ditmars 
Harry C. W. Melick 
Frederick R. DeNyse 



Howard M. Langford 
Richard M. Montgomery 
Frank L. Odell 
John Jacques De Mott 
Dr. Harry C. Greene 



1:22: 



RECEPTION COMMITTEE 

Chairman 
Eugene J. Grant 

Vice-Chairmen 
F. Wellington Ruckstull 
John R. Hegeman, Jr. 
Cornelius Eldert 
Marshall C. Lefferts 

and the following members: 



Alexander C. Snyder 
Tunis G. B. Kouwenhoven 
J. Howard Austin 
Jacob C. Klinck 
Frederick Boyd Stevenson 
Walter M. Meserole 
Dr. Robert Franklin Ives 
Hon. Raymond V. Ingersoll 
Charles L. Schenck 
Dr. Ralph I. Lloyd 
James H. Post 

F. A. M. BURRELL 

Elmer A. Sperry 



Hon. Frederick J. H. Kracke 

Jacob H. Shaffer 

Dr. William L. Felter 

William H. Kouwenhoven 

Reginald Pelham Bolton 

J. S. Frazee 

Edwin P. Clark 

Hon. Edward M. Bassett 

Charles L. Livingston 

Daniel M. Tredwell 

John F. Berry 

Joseph D. Harrison 

J. R. Van Brunt 



[^3] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 800 307 fl 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



01 1 800 307 A <# 




p6Rnulipe* 
pa S3 



